


Symphonies Exploding in the Sky

by Poorlittleklainer



Series: Klaine One Shots [13]
Category: Glee
Genre: AU, Broadway, M/M, Musician Blaine, Soulmates, pretty much pure fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-12
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-10-08 14:38:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17388215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Poorlittleklainer/pseuds/Poorlittleklainer
Summary: Blaine is an orchestra member in the show Kurt's just been cast for on Broadway.





	Symphonies Exploding in the Sky

**Author's Note:**

> I kinda just wrote and wrote and wrote and before I know it about four hours had past and I had a little under 9,000 words but oh well. There will most likely be inaccuracies in this story, as I've never auditioned for anything and have no idea what rehearsals are like. So please just roll with it even if I'm like terribly wrong? 
> 
> BTW the title is from the song Sad Song by We The Kings because that's an amazing song.

 

Kurt Hummel had long since gotten used to the empty space above his heart, had accepted the fact that he would probably be one of those people who never met their soulmate and got their tattoo above there. He figured, besides his dad's tattoo and the few platonic ones, he'd only get maybe one or two more, but he never truly thought he'd get his soulmate's tattoo. 

When he was seven, he vaguely remembers asking his parents why he had those strange markings on his body. And why they were different than his friends, and why his name was on his mom's wrist, and on his dad's hip. When they explaining it, he decided he wanted to be the person who'd got the most tattoos in the world, because that meant he was the most loved, and the way his parents love him was awesome, why wouldn't he want to be loved by more people? That just meant more people to buy him ice cream, and ice cream was awesome.

As he got older, he realized that wasn't actually the case. The tattoos don't just show up on your body when somebody loves you, you have to love them back. His dad's tattoo was on the back of his right shoulder, big, blocky letters that spelled out Burt, and his mom's was on the outside of his left thigh, the name Elizabeth spelled out in loopy letters that Burt told him that was pretty close to her own signature. When she died, Kurt would periodically trace over those letters as a reminder of his mother, which later became a habit. Whenever he's feeling stressed or anxious, he'd lightly run a finger over her name and remember what she smelled like and felt like when she hugged him, and it would usually help him calm down. 

Later in high school, he got two more names, Rachel's name was on his left bicep, written in blocks like his dad's, but cursive like his mom's. Probably because she took up so much space with her personality even though she's so tiny. Mercedes's tattoo fit her sassy personality, and it appeared on his right side, on his ribs. 

He didn't expect the other two tattoos to show up, never thought that he'd get another mother or a brother. Carole's appeared almost instantly after she became engaged to Burt, this time showing up on his other thigh, right opposite of his mom's tattoo. He smiled the day after he got it, and nearly teared up when she showed him his name on her right shoulder, the same spot that his dad's tattoo was on her left shoulder. Finn's took a little longer, but eventually showed up during the wedding, appearing on his left calf. 

But the spot above his heart remained empty. It was still semi-rare to meet your soulmate, a lot of people went their entire lives without meeting the person who's name was supposed to be written on their chest. Sometimes, even after his dad met Carole, Kurt would notice how his dad places a hand over his heart, daydreaming. He never asked him what he thought about when he did that, it always seemed like a private moment between his dad and his soulmate. 

As the years went on and Kurt graduated high school, then went to New York and graduated college, his number of tattoos stayed the same, the spot above his heart remained blank, and he came to the realization that he probably wouldn't meet his soulmate. He accepted it, but there was still that tiny part of his mind that longed to be able to wake up and look in the mirror, seeing his soulmate's name tattooed there on his chest. 

It was just a normal day of work for Kurt. He had gotten cast in an ensemble role for one of the off Broadway plays, determined to slowly start working his way up towards getting cast as a character that at least has a name. The audience wasn't as packed that night for their performance, seeing as the play had been going on for several months already. Kurt very much expected that it would end soon, and had already set up auditions with several other opportunities. 

As he expected, a month later, the show closed in order to save what little profit they did get. The company had a small send off, but besides the main cast, everyone else was expected to try to find better roles. And that's how Kurt found himself in the line with numerous other men auditioning for the revival of _Peter Pan_ on Broadway. It was one of his reach auditions, he had several other auditions lined up with lesser theaters, ones he was pretty sure he could at least get an ensemble role in if he was being a little arrogant. 

Still, when he saw that _Peter Pan_ was coming back to Broadway, he pleaded with several managers in his old company to talk to their friend to tell their friend that Kurt wanted an audition. He owed several people various to-be-named favors if he ever did make it big, but he'd gladly pay them back because that meant that he _did_ eventually make it big. 

"Kurt Hummel," his name is next, and he quickly follows the man towards the stage, where the director and several other no doubt important people sit in the audience. He does his reading, answers their questions, and all in all he's probably out of there in fifteen minutes. He tries not to get dejected by the emotionless quality in the director's voice when she said he could leave, but he still feels worried he didn't impress her enough. 

So he continues auditioning for several different theaters, including a few that would probably cause some of his professors at NYADA to ask why he went to school there if he was going to audition at _that_ theatre, but it was all that he could get at the moment. He's been out of college for only two years, and despite having a degree from NYADA, theaters don't want to cast you unless you have experience, and he can't get experience if he doesn't get cast in the first place. 

But a week later, he gets a callback to _Peter Pan._ He gets several other callbacks as well, however, none of which made him as nervous as the one for  _Peter Pan._  

At his callback, there is considerably less people auditioning, and instead of a line, Kurt waits in a waiting room. When they call his name, he enters the stage once again. The same people wait in front of him, and this time, Kurt can see in the orchestra pit there is one man sitting at the piano. 

The director has him sing for them, and the piano accompanies him while he sings, sticking to his lower register because he's learned from experience that even though he can sing in a high register, directors don't necessarily like it when he does that without them asking. Of course, NYADA helped him strengthen his ability to sing in the lower register as well as his higher one, so that was another thing he was thankful NYADA taught him. 

This time, the director has him stick around after he's done, and he dutifully leaves once he's finished singing. He waits for about an hour until his name is finally called for again, and walks onto the stage once again. He's asked to speak another part, this one different from the original speaking part he was handed. Which was...weird. He was originally auditioning for one of the pirates, that was the role he was told he'd be auditioning for at least, right? 

"How high can you sing?" The director asks. 

"Well, I'm a countertenor, so how high do you need me to sing?" he asks. The director is unable to keep her normal unimpressed face, and Kurt does a mental fist pump as her eyes widen just the slightest before returning to her emotionless stare. 

"For now, an alto. Here," one of the other people (who Kurt _still_  has no clue what their role is) gets up and stops by the piano, handing him what must be sheet music before giving Kurt the music. He sees it's one of the songs the entire company sings, so he quickly looks over the range he was asked to sing. Moments later, the piano starts to play and he quickly launches into the introduction, sight reading and afterwards feeling very nervous because sight reading was never his favorite thing to do. 

"You said here that you graduated from NYADA two years ago?" The director asks when he's finished, giving no indication if Kurt impressed her at all with his sight reading. Kurt nods. 

"Yeah, I graduated two years ago," he tells her. 

"Is Rexton Bruce still teaching there? He hated me," the director laughs, and Kurt thanks his acting skills because he manages to put a smile on his face even though he's internally freaking out. Why is this director trying to make small talk when he's freaking out like this? 

"He is. Did you go to NYADA too?" Kurt can't help asking, curious. 

"Yes I did. You can go, we will give you a call," she states. Kurt nods, and turns to leave the stage. Another man walks past him as he leaves the stage, and he hears the director call a greeting to him just before the doors close and he starts walking out of the building. 

He calls Rachel immediately after he exits, needing somebody else to tell him that audition was weird because his mind is going a million different directions like what if they actually want him in the cast? What if they're having him play something other than a nameless pirate and god doesn't that just make him want to freak out even _more?_ He needs somebody to tell him to calm the fuck down and calling Rachel probably wasn't a good idea because she just starts telling him that means they want him in the cast and suddenly he's believing her one second and thinking she has to be wrong the next. 

So of course he spends the next few days having an internal freakout every time his phone rings. It gets so bad Rachel starts answering the phone for him on several occasions, because he can't bring himself to answer without an obvious shake in his voice. By the time he finally gets a callback from _Peter Pan,_ he's been offered a small speaking role in another production as well as a supporting role in another. He holds off on both offers, however, promising both to let them know as soon as he can. Then _Peter Pan_ calls back and is asking him to come in for another day, telling him that he should probably plan on spending the day there so he should cancel whatever plans he already has because they aren't rescheduling, and he should wear comfortable clothes because he'll most likely be moving. So Kurt cancels his lunch plans with the guy Rachel was going to set him up with that he wanted to cancel anyways. Luckily, Rachel doesn't argue when he tells her the reason he's cancelling and just wishes him luck. 

This time when Kurt shows up, he's the only one in the same waiting room. He's wearing the same outfit he would usually wear to stage fighting class at NYADA, but instead of a simple tank top he wears a comfortable shirt with NYADA on it, because he's not above some shameless bragging, especially knowing the director is a NYADA graduate. Who also finally introduces herself and the two other people that have been judging Kurt since the beginning. 

"My name is Katherine Emerson. This is Jessica Pinch, she's our casting director," she gestures to the woman on her left, "and this is Marcus Seyton. He's our choreography director," she introduces the man on her right. Who stands up and quickly hops onto the stage next to Kurt. 

"I'm going to teach you some steps really quick. It'll most likely be one of the fight scenes," he tells him. Kurt nods, and Marcus quickly begins teaching Kurt a semi-complicated fight scene. The two of them work on the scene for a while, Kurt obviously isn't going to pull out his phone and check how much time has past. However, eventually, Ms. Emerson tells the two of them to fight at the speed they would as if they were both in the performance. Despite the limited time learning the sequence, Kurt manages to remember all the steps he has to do, and has some fun with it, thankful again for NYADA's stage fighting classes. 

"That was great, thank you, Kurt," Ms. Emerson finally tells him, and dismisses him after the hour, and Kurt isn't stupid enough to mention the fact that he was told it would take all day and he had cancelled plans. Although, he didn't even want to go on the date to begin with, so he wouldn't be complaining anyways. 

As he's exiting the building, he nearly collides with someone entering. Both of them manage to avoid hitting each other, but the stack of papers in the other man's hands falls all over the floor. 

"Oh, crap!" The man says, and Kurt quickly bends down with him to pick up the papers, apologizing profusely. 

"Don't worry about it, it was my fault. I wasn't exactly looking when I ran in," the man states, and the two of them finally look at each other when all the papers have been picked up. Kurt is a little speechless at the man, who smiles easily at him as Kurt hands him his papers. As the man reaches for the papers, he sees a guys name on his wrist, but because it's upside down Kurt can't read it.

"Thank you," the guy says, and the two of them stand up at the same time. 

"No problem. Sorry, again," Kurt states. 

"Good luck, by the way," the man says with a small smile, and completely ignores Kurt's confused look before he turns starts walking away. Kurt tries to keep himself from watching, but fails and ends up watching the guy walk through the same doors to the stage with a slight blush on his cheeks. Kurt eventually makes himself leave, and the blush stays on his cheeks until he gets on the subway. He takes his train to the apartment, and Kurt can't help but wonder why he didn't at least introduce himself to the man, at least so he would know who he was. 

Rachel ends up grilling him for details about his callback the minute he gets through the doors, and so Kurt ends up forgetting about the mysterious man who seemed to know who he was. By this point, Kurt figures he's in the running for a role that's probably not just another pirate, but he doesn't know who they would be thinking about casting him as. He rules out the Lost Boys, as well as both Michael and John, since those were probably going to be played by child actors. Mr. Darling is usually played by a bass baritone, and even though Kurt could maybe get his voice deep enough, it wouldn't be without some serious work. Peter Pan himself was in his vocal range, but because of his higher notes, he was usually played by a woman. So for the life of him, he couldn't figure out what role they wanted him to be cast as. 

The next day, he loses the spot for one of the supporting roles at another theatre because he's held off too long. He apologizes and thanks them for the opportunity, but isn't too upset by the loss. The day after, he forgets about it completely. 

Two days after his last callback, Ms. Emerson tells him to come down to the theatre again. Kurt quickly agrees, and an hour later, he walks into the building once again. Nerves are causing his stomach to have a field day in knots, and he quickly reaches down to run a finger over the spot his mother's tattoo lays, even though it's covered by his pants. The familiar action lessons his nerves slightly, but he's still significantly scared when he walks in the building. 

This time, he isn't alone when he reaches the stage. Instead, both Ms. Emerson and Ms. Pinch are  standing on the stage, next to a shorter woman. 

"Thank you for coming in so quickly, Kurt. This is Rebecca, she's going to be playing Wendy," Ms. Emerson introduces the woman to him. Kurt smiles and shakes her hand, looking at Ms. Emerson and Ms. Pinch a little confused. Why would he be meeting Wendy? 

"So I guess we should just cut to the chase. We're considering you for Peter. Would you mind reading for us, Kurt?" Ms. Emerson asks, handing Kurt a script even though he hasn't said anything. Kurt nods, the knots in his stomach increasing as she tells him he's in the running for Peter Pan. 

_Crap. Crap. Crap._ He just came in for an ensemble role, and now he's reading for the lead. _Oh crap. Okay, breathe, Hummel. Calm down._ He forces himself to take a deep breath, trying to ignore the knowing look from both directors in front of him. 

Mini freak out over, Kurt reads a couple scenes with Rebecca. After the scenes, both Ms. Emerson and Ms. Pinch ask him if he could sing a little with Rebecca, which of course he can. 

"Blaine? You ready?" Ms. Emerson calls down to the orchestra pit, and Kurt follows her gaze and finds a familiar black haired man sitting at the piano. The pianist, Blaine, calls out he's good and Kurt can't spend any time thinking that the cute guy he ran into several days ago is apparently in the orchestra because he's being asked to sight read again and he needs all his attention on sight reading. Rebecca at least knows a little of her songs because she's already been cast, but she seems to be on the same boat as Kurt. They have to run through the song a couple times because until both of them have the lyrics pretty much memorized and they can focus on hitting the right notes. 

At the end, both Ms. Emerson and Ms. Pinch ask Kurt to stay behind for a little while they talk. They disappear with Rebecca, and Kurt is standing alone on the stage. 

"You're a pretty good singer," Kurt jumps at the sudden voice, completely forgetting that the pianist was there. He figured after they sung, he would have left. Nope, he's still down there in the orchestra pit. Kurt walks to the edge of the stage and sits down, looking down at the pit where Blaine sits on the piano bench. 

"Thank you," Kurt says, unable to be good for most conversation because he's still kind of freaking out that he's being considered for the lead role for a Broadway musical. And not just any Broadway musical, _Peter Pan._ Kurt's not even aware of the fact that he's tracing his mother's name until Blaine speaks out. 

"One of your tattoos?" He asks. Kurt blushes as he realizes Blaine was watching him. 

"Yeah, my mother's. It's something I do when I'm nervous," Kurt explains. "So are you the pianist for the orchestra?" He asks, figuring he'd at least try to make small talk while the directors are no doubt discussing him and comparing him to another unknown person for the biggest role of his career thus far. 

"No, I'm actually one of the violinists. The regular pianist for auditions wasn't able to make it, and Kat know that I play piano as well so she asked if I could take the time," Blaine explains. 

"Do you know any other instruments?" Kurt asks, curious. 

"Yeah, I do. I play violin, piano, guitar, viola, and I'm okay on the drums," Blaine counts off the instruments on his fingers and Kurt widens his eyes as he lists. 

"Damn. Makes me feel inadequate only being able to sing," Kurt laughs, watching as Blaine laughs along. 

"Well I can definitely say you sing beautifully. I probably shouldn't tell you this, but I know Kat was impressed," Blaine states. Kurt blushes at compliment, but he isn't able to mention anything else because both directors and Rebecca walk back onto the stage. Kurt gets up and looks over at the three of them. 

"How'd you like to be Peter, Kurt?" Ms. Emerson asks. Despite Rachel's warnings that he should behave professionally if they do offer him a role, Kurt feels his eyes widening and he just manages not to drop his jaw. 

"Are you serious?" comes out of his mouth before he can think. Luckily Ms. Emerson doesn't find it unprofessional, even though it probably is. She just smiles and nods.

"I'd be honored," Kurt quickly states, as if by not saying it at _that_ exact moment they would rescind their offer. Ms. Emerson gives him the information for rehearsals, telling him that he might have to come in for chemistry readings beforehand, but they would give him plenty of heads up. 

"Thank you so much, Ms. Emerson, Ms. Pinch," Kurt shakes hands with both of the directors, and Ms. Emerson laughs. 

"Now that you're part of the cast, Kurt, you can call me Kat, and she's just Jess," Kat states. Kurt nods quickly, filing the reminder away because he knows he'll slip and call both of them Ms again. His dad taught him that after all. 

Kat dismisses him then, as well as both Rebecca and Blaine. Kurt can hear Blaine walking behind him, and he says goodbye to Rebecca as she leaves. 

"Congratulations, Peter," Kurt hears Blaine say as soon as Rebecca leaves. Kurt grins and turns around, seeing Blaine grinning back at him. 

"I can't believe it," Kurt breathes out, watching as Blaine's grin widens. He can't help it, and he feels his own smile threatening to break skin because he doesn't remember being this ecstatic in, well, ever. 

"Do you want to go grab some lunch with me?" Kurt asks, the adrenaline and joy from his casting making him braver than normal. He would normally never even ask out another guy without knowing with at least 90% positivity that he was gay. Blaine however, doesn't take any offense. In fact, he blushes and seems actually happy about the fact Kurt just asked him out. 

"I'd love to, but I have to teach a violin lesson in thirty minutes. I'd be open for dinner though," Blaine tells him. Kurt nods, already knowing exactly where he wants to take him for dinner. They swap information, and Kurt watches Blaine head the opposite way he needs to go. So he heads back to his own loft, filled with overwhelming happiness at both his new job and the date with a very handsome guy. 

Rachel practically screams when he tells her his new role, and quickly makes plans to invite everyone they know for dinner. He then tells her he has a date, and she screams again. She accepts the minimal details, seeing as Kurt himself doesn't know much about Blaine other than the fact he's talented and extremely cute. 

He takes Blaine to a small Italian place not far away from his loft with Rachel. Blaine meets him there, and the two quickly head in. Even though they've never met until recently, Kurt is surprised by how easily the conversation flows between the two of them. They laugh at their shared experiences in glee clubs in Ohio, both of them surprised they've never met each other before. Blaine talks about going to Juilliard while Kurt gushes about NYADA. Blaine teases him that's why he got the lead, because Kat has an automatic love for anybody who graduated and survived her alma mater. Kurt tells Blaine about his previous job, which Blaine had ended up going to with some of the other members of the orchestra. Blaine compliments Kurt on the play, even though he only had an ensemble role and had no influence in the actual outcome because he didn't even have a name (and oh my god he's going from that to playing Peter Pan on actual  _Broadway_ how is this his life?). Blaine reveals that he teaches various lessons for each of the instruments he knows, as well as being second violinist in the orchestra. 

All in all, the conversation just doesn't stop. They don't even realize that they've spent almost three hours in the restaurant until the waiter comes up to them and asks them would they like dessert and if not, would they please leave because they need the table space? Normally, Kurt would be offended at the waiter pretty much kicking them out but he's too happy on his date to care. So he pays for their dinner after both of them agree they'd rather get dessert elsewhere, and easily waves off Blaine's offer to pay. He tries to argue that this is a celebration so Kurt obviously shouldn't pay, but Kurt states he asked him out on the date so he should pay, naturally. 

The two of them leave the restaurant and Kurt is bold enough to grab Blaine's hand, watching with a smile when Blaine blushes slightly before lacing their fingers together. Kurt takes Blaine to a frozen yogurt place a couple blocks away, and he revels in the fact that they spend the entire time eating a shared bowl holding hands. Kurt eyes the tattoo on Blaine's wrist again and turn's their hands, so that Blaine's hand is palm up. Kurt lets go of Blaine's hand only to run his thumb over the tattoo, drawing Blaine's attention to it. 

"Who's this?" Kurt asks. He takes a couple seconds to read the upside down name, Cooper. 

"My brother. He lives in California," Blaine explains. 

"I have a step-brother named Finn. He's back in Ohio with my dad and my step-mom," Kurt tells Blaine. Kurt asks Blaine more questions about his family, and Blaine quickly supplies him with various stories, mostly about Cooper. Kurt reveals how his family came together, and Blaine laughs at all the appropriate places. Just like at the restaurant, the two of them are talking so much they aren't aware of how much time goes by. They eventually make it out of the fro-yo place by ten. 

Kurt's loft is within walking distance, and Blaine insists on walking him to his place. Kurt doesn't even put up a fight, instead just grabbing Blaine's hand again. This time, Blaine doesn't blush as he laces their fingers together, and Kurt leads him to his loft. The walk is a lot shorter than he remembers, and they linger outside Kurt's door, both of them talking about simple things just to stall. Finally, Kurt has to remember Blaine still has to get back to his home, so the two of them part with a promise to call, and not a _I'll promise to call you later even though both of us know I actually won't._ Blaine adamantly promises he'll call Kurt later, and Kurt decides to be brave again and leans down to kiss Blaine's cheek, chickening out on kissing his lips but Blaine's brave too. 

"You missed," Blaine says softly, reaching up instead to kiss Kurt properly. He quickly pulls away, both of them blushing as Blaine says goodnight. Kurt watches Blaine disappear down the stairs, finally walking inside his loft just in time to see Rachel darting back to the living area. And for once, Kurt isn't mad that she was blatantly eavesdropping and gushes to her all about his date. Rachel listens with a smile and says she's happy for him, that he deserves love and success. And so it's midnight by the time he's falling into bed but he couldn't care less. 

Blaine waits until the next day to call, and Kurt grins as Blaine rambles about not wanting to call too soon even though they literally just saw each other less than 24 hours ago and should he hang up and call back later? 

Thankfully, Kurt is in the same boat and they quickly schedule another date, this time Blaine plans it and Kurt goes along. They set the date for the next day, because even though both of them are clearly eager to see each other again, they agree that they could wait for the following day. 

And even though they would be seeing each other again soon, they spend the day texting. Blaine had a couple lessons to teach, Blaine texted Kurt in between each one. Kurt couldn't stop grinning the entire day, even when Rachel dragged him out to celebrate his new role when he planned on texting Blaine the entire night like some teenager again. 

The surprise was actually pretty nice, Kurt had to admit. Rachel managed to pull all of their New York friends together and they all went to a club, dancing and falling to bed way past midnight this time. 

A couple weeks later, rehearsals start and Kurt was the busiest he's been since college. He walks in his first day, and he quickly realized that he was going to be run ragged in the ten weeks before their first public performance. They would be opening cold, not doing any tours off Broadway before opening night, so they would hopefully stay open as long as possible. 

They started rehearsing, and Kurt quickly was impressed by the child actors that probably outnumbered the adults. 

"You're Pan, right?" One of them asks. Kurt looks down, the boy looked up at him, and Kurt nods. 

"Yeah, I'm Pan. My name's Kurt," Kurt introduces himself, and the boy smiles shyly at him. 

"I'm playing Michael. My name's Lucas," he says. Kurt smiles at Lucas, especially because he seems pretty nervous. Michael was only seven or eight in the show, so Lucas couldn't have been much older than probably twelve.

"Is this your first performance?" Kurt asks. Lucas nods, and he hears Kat calling for Peter and the Darling kids. Lucas looks like he's about to run out there, but Kurt stops him real quick. He doesn't know why or how, but Lucas reminds him of Kurt when he was younger. 

"You'll do great," Kurt reassures him. Lucas smiles, and Kurt watches as some of his nerves disappear as he runs out to the stage, where Kat and Marcus are standing. Kurt walks out, quickly followed by Rebecca, and he introduces himself to the boy who would be playing John, a fifteen year old boy named Vincent. 

The four of them rehearse the first scene Pan is in, walking through the motions Marcus wants them to go through while reading off their scripts. As the day goes on, Kurt watches as both Vincent and Lucas quickly settle in, their nerves disappearing. Rebecca and him stand off to the side later that day, watching the two of them talking with the group of kids that were playing Lost Boys. 

"I can't imagine being a child actor on Broadway already. I wonder how much stress they are under," Rebecca speaks up. Kurt's response is cut off as the boys whoop loudly, chasing each other through the rows in the audience while Jess tries to get them under control. 

"I bet they're doing pretty good right now," Kurt states, and both of them laugh as they watch the kids continue to run around. Jess eventually gets them under control for their rehearsal, and Kurt waves goodbye to Rebecca as he heads to the stage. Something about working with the kids draws out Kurt's own energy, and before he knows it he's running around with the kids on stage and barely remembering to read off his lines. 

The first day of rehearsal eventually ends, and Kurt leaves exhausted, but excited behind belief. He cannot wait until opening day, especially because he's having so much fun around his cast members already. 

Blaine and the rest of the orchestra come in to rehearsal after the first four weeks. By that time, Kurt's got most of his lines memorized and knows all the songs. Kurt manages to pull Blaine aside a couple times during rehearsal for a quick hello, grinning widely whenever he manages to see Blaine sitting there in the orchestra pit with his violin. 

About six weeks into rehearsal, Kurt pulls Blaine aside during one of the rare moments both of them aren't busy. Kurt pulls him into the nearest costume closet, knowing they wouldn't get interrupted as the costume department wasn't coming in that day. Blaine raises an eyebrow at the location, but isn't able to say anything before Kurt pulls him into a kiss. 

"Did you pull me in here just to make out? Because I'm definitely not complaining," Blaine quickly states. Kurt laughs, kissing him again. 

"Yes and no. Rachel has told me she'll be gone tonight, so I was wondering if you could come over and enjoy a loft-free evening," Kurt asks. Blaine quickly nods, and leans in to kiss Kurt again. Kurt can't even laugh at Blaine's eagerness to spend an evening alone, but it's not like he's complaining as Blaine starts kissing down the line of his jaw and he's about to reciprocate when he hears someone start calling out for Pan and the Lost Boys. Both of them let out identical groans as their five minutes of peace is interrupted. 

"My place, seven, pizza and absolutely no Rachel interrupting us," Kurt promises, watching Blaine blush at the mention of that time two weeks ago when Rachel walked in on both of them shirtless on Kurt's bed. 

"Counting down the hours," Blaine kisses Kurt one last time before Kurt has to run to stage before Kat realizes he was sneaking off to make out with one of the orchestra members and wasn't taking a bathroom break. 

The orchestra was let out about thirty minutes before rehearsal ends, so Blaine texts Kurt he'll head back to his apartment so Kurt could take a shower before Blaine arrives with the pizza. So Kurt takes a quick shower, throwing on some comfortable clothes just as Blaine knocks on the door. Kurt quickly lets him in, throwing the pizza on the counter and pretty much attacking his boyfriend. 

A couple hours later, the pizza remained on the counter, uneaten. Kurt rested his head on Blaine's bare chest, running his fingertips gently over the empty space above Blaine's heart. He had discovered Blaine's other tattoos. His mom's name was written on his right collarbone. His dad's was written on his back. He had a friend's name on his right ankle, and of course his brother's on his wrist. But what surprised Kurt the most was the scar on his right bicep, a result of a name that used to be there, but was removed. He tried to build up the courage to ask, but he was afraid of the answer. 

"You can ask, Kurt," Blaine whispers. Kurt stops his fingers and rests his chin on the back of his hand, looking up at Blaine. He takes his other hand and runs a thumb over the scar. 

"I wasn't sure if you wanted to talk about it," Kurt tells him honestly. Blaine sighs, looking down to look Kurt in the eyes. 

"We dated in high school. Both of us fell in love, obviously we weren't soulmates. We went to separate colleges, he stayed in Ohio while I came here. We tried to stay together until the distance grew too much. A month later his name disappeared and became a scar," Blaine explains. Kurt doesn't say anything, but his thumb stops stroking the spot and he just continues looks up at Blaine. Finally, he kisses the empty spot above Blaine's heart, pulling back quickly at Blaine's sharp inhale. 

"I'm going to grab the pizza," Kurt whispers. Blaine nods, and Kurt doesn't even bother putting clothes back on as he walks out into the empty and dark loft, grabbing the pizza and walking back to the room. He takes the few moments alone to try to calm his running mind. Blaine has been in love before. He knew what being in love felt like. He wonders how quickly one can fall in love with someone else. 

He momentarily wished the tattoos would show up when somebody loved you and not when they actually _said_ I love you. Because it would be so much easier if he knew that what he felt was love yet. 

Kurt returns with the pizza, smiling. Blaine grins back, and the two of them indulge in eating the pizza right out of the carton in bed. They fall back in bed afterwards, and as the time gets later, Blaine tries to leave. Kurt grabs his hand before he can roll out of bed though. 

"You should stay," he whispers. Blaine looks at him surprised. 

"You sure Rachel wouldn't mind?" Blaine asks. Kurt nods. 

"The rule is no one night stands can stay over. We don't have a rule that boyfriends can't," Kurt tells him. Blaine grins like he always does when Kurt references him as his boyfriend, but instead of falling back in bed like Kurt expected him to do, he continues getting up and reaches for his boxers. 

"We should at least have underwear on when Rachel gets back," Blaine states. Kurt laughs, quickly agreeing as he grabs his own underwear and putting it on as Blaine gets back in bed. He still has a smile as Blaine wraps his arm around Kurt, and the two of them wiggle into comfortable positions. They end up completely tangled with one another, Blaine's leg rests over Kurt's and his hand on Kurt's hip. There's no space between their bodies, and Kurt can feel Blaine's breath tickling his neck as he breaths. 

"Goodnight, Kurt," Blaine whispers, and Kurt feels him kiss his neck, barely having to move his head to kiss his skin. 

"Goodnight, Blaine," Kurt whispers, and he just manages to catch the words that practically beg to be said during the quiet night with Blaine wrapped around not only his body but also around his heart. Blaine's name may not be above his heart, but he's certainly managed to mark himself inside it. 

The next several weeks pass, and Kurt feels himself get more and more stressed as opening night quickly looms close. Blaine tries his best to calm him down, but Kurt finds himself continuously running over his fingers over his mom's name, trying to ease his nerves with little success. His tried and true anti-stress strategy wasn't working anymore, and the only thing that ended up making his stomach unravel from the knots it currently was living in seemed to be Blaine. 

It got to the point that he wasn't able to fall asleep unless he was with Blaine, who had no problems staying over at the loft with Kurt. Thankfully, Rachel liked Blaine, so she didn't put up much of a fight when Blaine practically moved in that week. 

Added stress came in when Finn, Carole, and Burt flew into town that week as well. They had immediately gotten opening night tickets when Kurt informed them of his role, despite how crazy expensive they were. Kurt had only been able to get two free tickets, which he was practically forced by his dad to give to Blaine and Rachel. 

He introduced Blaine to his parents, which was even more stress on it's own. Kurt knew he didn't need to be stressed, and he didn't. His parents loved Blaine pretty much immediately, and Blaine quickly befriended Finn as the two of them talked about football and other things Finn was into but Kurt wasn't. But the longer he and Blaine spent time together, the more time Kurt looked at his reflection and wondered where Blaine's name would appear. Because he knew he was in love with Blaine, and he couldn't help but hope Blaine was falling for him too. During those times, Kurt tries to keep his thoughts to his ribs, his arms, his hips, he'd even be willing for his neck. But it seemed that empty spot above his heart was like a beacon every time he searched, and he tried to keep his eyes away but he couldn't help but imagine Blaine's name there. Would the script be thin and loopy? Would it be cursive? Would it be like his signature, barely legible except for a large B and A?

Crap, he's doing it again. 

The day of opening night, Kurt is so nervous that even with Blaine staying over, he barely gets any sleep. The three of them meet up with his family for breakfast, where Kurt eats with much prodding from Blaine and his parents. He forces himself to eat despite his nerves, but immediately feels like throwing up afterwards.

Time does that thing where it goes super fast but achingly slow at the same time. It's all too soon and all too long before Blaine and him are bidding goodbye to everybody else in order to get ready for the performance. Blaine has to go back to his apartment to grab his suit, so Kurt rides the subway with him, unable to separate until he absolutely has to. 

They arrive at the theater, and Blaine quickly pulls Kurt to the side. 

"Hey, you will be amazing," Blaine reassures. Kurt looks around at the busy backstage, knowing he needs to go, but Blaine's presence is just so calming and he knows the minute he leaves he'll be wracked with more nerves than ever before. 

"I just can't screw this up, Blaine," Kurt says, feeling the tears in his eyes as he imagines completely throwing the entire musical and all the reviews afterwards. 

"Not possible," Blaine says. Kurt gives him a look, but Blaine persists. "Seriously, I think it's physically impossible for you to screw up a performance. You are amazing, you will do amazing, and I know because I l-" 

"Kurt! There you are! Kat is going crazy looking for you!" Rebecca yells, and Kurt's stomach drops for a different reason because he could have _sworn_ that Blaine was about to say _those_ words and could Rebecca's timing be any worse? 

"I'm coming," Kurt calls over his shoulder, and he looks at Blaine. He lays a hand on his cheek and kissing him, not caring that anybody could be watching them. 

"Thank you. I'll see you after?" Kurt asks. Blaine nods, and Rebecca grabs his arm and physically pulls him away from Blaine. Which he probably needed because even as she pulls him away Kurt just wants to go back and let Blaine continue. Because now his mind isn't on opening night but instead those words that Blaine was about to say. 

"I know you two want to go back to sucking face but Kat is about to have a literal panic attack if she doesn't see you," Rebecca says as she pulls Kurt through the maze that was backstage. 

"Okay, okay, I get it," Kurt pulls his arm out of Rebecca's grasp but continues walking with her, seeing the director pretty much screaming his name. 

"Kat, I'm here! What's wrong?" He asks. Kat lets out a relieved breath as she sees him, and Rachel leaves with the excuse of going to wardrobe. Kat launches into a lecture about Kurt being late even though he's not, but after ten weeks of rehearsal he hopes he knows her enough to know that she's just freaking out and this is her way of letting it all out. 

"Better?" Kurt asks when she's finished. She pauses for a moment. 

"Yeah. Sorry," she apologizes. Kurt laughs and hugs her briefly, pulling back and motioning the same way Rebecca left, telling Kat he should probably get to wardrobe himself. She nods, letting Kurt leave and get his costume. He runs into some of the Lost Boys on the way, and they all look excited and ready for their own performances. 

Kurt bumps into Lucas along the way, who follows Kurt quickly. During the last ten weeks, Lucas and him quickly bonded, which helped calm down Lucas's fears and helped Kurt with his own. 

"How are you feeling, Lucas?" Kurt asks as he gets handed his costume. He disappears behind the curtain to change, but can hear Lucas sitting outside it. 

"Terrified," Lucas answers. Kurt smiles, terrified himself. But Lucas for whatever reason looks up to Kurt so he should probably try to portray some confidence. 

"So am I," Kurt answers honestly, pulling aside the curtain when he's done changing. Lucas looks up at him with wide eyes, as if he never expected Kurt to be scared. 

"But we've been rehearsing for weeks. I think we've got it down by now," Kurt tells him. Lucas nods, and smiles at him. 

"You think so?" He asks. Kurt nods, watching the lights flicker to showcase they should get into position soon. Lucas sees it too, his nerves racking up more as he's in the opening scene. 

"You wanna know what I do when I'm nervous, Lucas?" Kurt asks. Lucas watches him curiously, and Kurt points towards his thigh, where his mom's name rests. 

"I run my hand over my mom's tattoo. I know that no matter what, she loves me with all her heart, and when I do that, I remember how it feels to hug her. Where's your mom's tattoo?" Kurt asks. Lucas holds his arm out and points at the side of his right bicep, where Kurt sees the first few letters of Lucas's mother's name before his sleeve covers up the rest. 

"Whenever you feel scared or nervous, feel your mom's tattoo and remember how it feels when she hugs you," Kurt smiles. He watches as Lucas runs his thumb a couple times over his mom's tattoo, closing his eyes. When he opens them, Lucas grins excitedly.

"Now come on, it's almost time for the curtain to rise," Kurt says. Lucas nods, and he runs off towards the stage, while Kurt takes his time walking. He sees Rebecca on the stage next to Vincent and Lucas, waiting for the curtain to rise. 

The show goes amazing. When he steps onto the stage the first time, all the nerves Kurt has disappears. He honestly doesn't remember performing better, and it seems the audience loves it. Kurt can hear the kids especially when he fights Brandon, who plays Captain Hook. The two of them fight all over the stage, and when he beats Hook, he hears the kids cheer and has to keep back a grin until he gets off stage. 

The play ends and the applause fills Kurt with such immense pride he knows he's grinning ear to ear when he enters the stage with Rebecca. The audience has long since risen to their feet, but another surge of applause and cheers erupt as the two of them bow. The cast applauds to the orchestra pit, and Kurt knows the lights won't allow him to see Blaine in the pit below, but he can't help but try to find him anyways when he looks down. 

Kat makes an announcement that they were throwing a cast party, but Kurt manages to get out of it. He just wants to spend the night with his family. 

Blaine is the first one he sees, as he's the only one with backstage access. Blaine quickly pulls him into a kiss, right there in front pretty much the entire crew and most of the orchestra. Kurt blushes as he hears the catcalls from both the crew and the orchestra. 

"You were amazing, Kurt, just like I knew you would," Blaine grins. Kurt laughs, too full of adrenaline to do anything but. Blaine continues grinning as he grabs his hand, and the two of them leave to find Rachel and his family. 

Carole hands him flowers when they do find them. They were waiting outside, and Kurt finds himself in the middle of a group hug when he walks over to them. Even though his dad tries to get him to go to the cast party, Kurt makes him accept that he wanted to go out to dinner with them. 

So they all crowd into a restaurant booth, and Kurt is too distracted by his happiness to worry about any reviews coming out the next morning. He enjoys his time with his family, knowing they would be flying back to Ohio the next morning and he wouldn't see them for a while. 

Eventually, they have to call it a night. Especially as Burt, Carole, and Finn have an early morning flight. So Kurt bids his family goodbye, and the three of them head back to the loft. Rachel tells the two of them goodnight before disappearing to her room, with promises to wear her noise cancelling headphones. Not like she needed them, the adrenaline was wearing off and Kurt was quickly becoming exhausted. 

He ends up just stripping down to his boxers, making himself brush his teeth before crawling in next to a similarly clad Blaine. Blaine leans down to kiss Kurt, and honestly no amount of exhaustion would cause him to stop kissing Blaine. 

"You were seriously breathtaking up there tonight, Kurt," Blaine says as he pulls back. 

"You've said that already," Kurt smiles teasingly, but Blaine shakes off his teases and looks back completely serious. 

"I'm serious, Kurt. I almost forgot my cues a couple times just watching you," Blaine tells him. Kurt smiles, seeing it in his mind. It wouldn't surprise him, Blaine's been known to miss a couple cues during rehearsals, especially if it's after they've just gotten back from sneaking away for one of their make out sessions. 

"I love you," Kurt says. Which completely surprises him. He had meant to make some sort of teasing comment, but instead those words just jumped out. Not that they weren't true, of course they were. 

"I love you too," Blaine whispers. Kurt smiles, reaching for him and pulling him into a kiss. Kurt lays down next to Blaine, who immediately wraps his arms around him and they quickly become the tangled mess of limbs they usually become with each other. 

"I can't wait to see your tattoo," Kurt whispers. He feels his exhaustion overwhelming him, and falls asleep just as Blaine runs a thumb over his chest. Right above his heart. 

Kurt wakes gently the next morning. They hadn't moved much during the night. If anything, they were even more of a tangled mess with each other. He smiles as he carefully turns around, looking at Blaine's sleeping face. He begins looking for his name on Blaine's body, and he doesn't have to search long. With a gasp, he pulls himself out of Blaine's grasp, which wakes him up but he's too distracted by the previously empty spot above Blaine's heart. 

He runs his thumb over his name, Kurt Hummel, written in large looping letters. He can't even bring himself to look down at his own chest, too distracted by the name on Blaine's chest to recognize that he has Blaine's own tattoo above his heart. He feels Blaine's hand on his chest, and he finally tears his gaze away from his name to look down his own chest at Blaine's. 

Blaine Anderson, written in bold cursive letters, with a large B and a large A. Kurt reaches up and grabs Blaine's hand, trapping it against his new tattoo as he looks down at Blaine. At his soulmate.

He tries to think of some words, some way to show how significant this is. Because it is, they both know how huge this is. Soulmates falling in love with each other doesn't happen every day. He knows both of them expected never to see a name in that space above their hearts for their entire lives. But "I love you," is all that comes out of Kurt's mouth. But it's enough, it'll always be enough. 

And later, when the nerves come back for their next performance that night. It's not the name on his thigh that Kurt traces to calm him down. It's the one on his chest, right above his heart. 

 


End file.
